Roger Kahn in his quintessential baseball novel “Good Enough to Dream” explained how the lure of baseball could capture a young man’s dream and envelop his whole life. He made it a point to say that while the vast majority will never make it to the majors; they all share the dream that links the small child in the sandlot with the bonus baby who has just smacked one out of the stadium.

It’s that dream that those who love the sport learn from their father, abuelo, uncle or a neighborhood coach that is passed on and becomes a passion equal to none. Hours of practice follow, but most – like Kahn – learn that baseball is but a moment of poetry in a young man’s life.

That same feeling got all the way down to the Alamo region of Texas, passing the Nueces River and meandering down to the Rio Grande. Baseball, you see, also belongs to the Tejanos and Mexican Americans living in the outskirts of San Antonio, the Brush Country of South Texas and the delta of the Rio Grande.

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The game became a rite of passage for many youngsters trying to prove their mettle to the community. For one brief shining moment in time, there was nothing more important than belonging to the “Town Team.”

“Mexican American Baseball in the Alamo Region” is a valiant attempt to show the importance of baseball in South Texas and other regions of the state and nation. A cadre of five contributors scoured the land for photographs and stories that would speak to the importance of the game to Mexican Americans.

They discovered that Sundays were reserved for church and baseball and from the first whiff of spring to the first freeze of winter, there would be baseball games to watch and enjoy in a family-like atmosphere where memories would be made and heroes would be born.

They learned that ball fields often were carved out of cow pastures or molded into fields of corn and sorghum as the appetite to play the game as well as possible grew. Baseball became a passion in this area, and this book makes a valiant effort to document that feeling.

Those of us who have seen the success of high school and college baseball teams – not to mention the myriad of semi-pro teams during the 20th century through today – know the love the area has for the sport.

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So how do these five contributors – Richard A. Santillán, Jorge Iber, Grace C. Charles, Alberto Rodríguez and Gregory Garnett – capture that feeling? They do it through a series of photographs that were probably stored in shoe or cigar boxes by proud relatives of those heroes of the sandlot who dared to play the game as well as they could and brought cheers of joy to their communities. Along the way, sipping a cold drink and eating some barbecue or cotton candy were the rewards. Now, this book stands as a testament to their efforts and love for the game.

Some of the photographs are priceless. The oldest is an 1886 photo of a San Diego baseball team known as Los Unicos.

The names of the teams standout like poetry recited quietly over a dimly lit ballpark. The names echo through the sands of time as if beckoning all to remember how it felt to dream to play the game of baseball well.

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Among the teams mentioned are the Chapman Ranch Steers, Stonewall Grocery, The Moonglow Club, Hippo of San Antonio, The Royal Palace Club, Kingsville 500, King Ranch Cowboys, San Diego Redbirds, Benavides Eagles, Los Allegros de San Diego, San Antonio Aztecs, Los Flacos de Corpus Christi, Grand Prize, Southern Select of Corpus Christi, Las Aguilas and Los Gordos de Corpus Christi, the Corpus Christi Jewelers, Victoria Eagles, the Guadalupe Sombreros, Los Leones de Houston, San Ygnacio Bluebirds and the Corpus Christi Jerseys. There are so many more.

The Jewelers, by the way, were sponsored by famous radio and television personality Domingo Pena, who operated a pharmacy and jewelry store in Corpus Christi in 1948.

Also of interest to area baseball enthusiasts are a couple of pictures of legendary baseball player and coach Hector Salinas. Salinas was an All-American at Pan American University in the Valley and helped start collegiate baseball programs at Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after stints as coach at Texas Southmost and Laredo Community College.

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This stuff is legendary and most baseball enthusiasts will enjoy reviewing the photos of those baseball teams that dared to play ball with fury and passion.

The highlight of this book is the pictures. Those team photos will mesmerize the reader. The men stand there stoically and with a sense of pride and joy as they realize the memory of their team is being recorded for posterity. Now, however, those photos are out of the shoebox and all of us can enjoy them.

About the authors

Richard A. Santillán is a professor emeritus of ethnic and women studies at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Jorge Iber is associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history at Texas Tech University. Grace C. Charles is the archivist at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Alberto Rodríguez is an assistant professor of history at Texas A&M-Kingsville., Gregory Garrett is an educational specialist with the Institute of Texan Cultures at the University of Texas-San Antonio.

Texana Reads

This weekly column focuses on new and old books about Texas or related to Texas. It includes fiction and nonfiction books, reports on political and sports books as well as cultural or historical works. The common thread among these books is their relationship to Texas, specifically South Texas.
For suggestions on topics or books, email manuelf78407@yahoo.com.